Slurs, Fists Fly Over Obama Signs in Lubbock
Editor's note: The story and embedded video contains explicit language. Consider yourselves warned.
The Texas Democratic Party in Lubbock County has released a video showing several young men in an altercation with one of its volunteers and yelling racially derogatory remarks at the volunteer, who was looking out for people vandalizing signs in support of President Obama.
Party officials identified the volunteer as Leo Flores, who is Hispanic. He can be heard on the video speaking with police before and after the altercation.
The incident occurred at about 2 a.m. Wednesday. The volunteer was attempting to videotape the ...
Comments (31)
Luisa Inez Newton via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Texas, dear sweet Texas, I think Molly Ivins might say it's a struggle for our souls and our senses of humor because "lock & loaded" is "dumb & dumber" & let's go forward for Christ's sake, it's not so scary if you've got a healthy vocabulary & love of democracy
John Z Cavazos via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Racism, an american tradition
Kirk Garner via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Stay classy, Lubbock.
Kathy Kennemer Genet via Texas Tribune on Facebook
More and more, the GOP is the party where racists find a home. Until their leaders recognize the problem, name it, and call out the people who act this way, they bear some responsibility for the actions of the racists. This video just makes me sad.
Candyce Byrne via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Shame on the parents of Lubbock who raised such sons. The most chilling thing to me is the expressions on their faces . . . not anger or hostility but a self-entitled smirk. Kinda reminds me of Romney's smirk.
Kerri Covey via Texas Tribune on Facebook
nice.
Charles W. IV via Texas Tribune on Facebook
These guys aren't even smart enough to be good bigots. Calling a Hispanic man a coon?
Molly Brown via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Sad....
Clyde James
The incident shown is the SIXTH time vandals stole or vandalized signs. They were seen THREE times..... one time the witness saw where signs were taken, and next day another volunteer confronted them ... they returned signs... apologized, said they'd done it only once, and wouldn't do it again. Three days later was when then-word was written about 50 times on two different signs. At another site, the signs were shot...
Charlotte Dunham via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I feel sad for my city.
Mac Mcclure via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Good to know the Democrats are as pure as the wind driven snow. They would never make any derogatory remarks about any Republican. Just read the comments of any Texas Tribune report and you will see their love.
Clyde James
They called him a coon, then said "f*ckin beaner" then said "viva la Mexico" and shouted ROMNEYROMNEY
Clyde James
Mac there's a difference between a "derogatory" remark about Republicans, and one American citizen saying to another "go back to Mexico."
Perhaps the volunteer video operator though they should go back the pure white Aryan country where they came from, but he did not taunt them with that thought.
Clyde James
And don't lose sight of the fact that independent of the political content of all this, the racial content.... these little thugs were ON PRIVATE property, DESTROYING PRIVATE PROPERTY, which, is a crime. They have destroyed 500 dollars worth of property, ... and the ones the other day who wrote the n-word all over two signs engaged in another crime - a hate crime.
Clyde James
They also fled from police, and had to be caught a mile away. That is not political, that is not equivalent to not liking Republicans, that is not equivalent to anyhthing besides commiting a crime, and fleeing, and running from cops. Perhaps in a romney administration all that in the service of said hypothetical administration might become NOT a crime, but for now it is.
Clyde James
The kids aren't from Lubbock... I think it's Plano. And yes, shame on those parents. They're probably teabagging maniacs who foam at the mouth because their president had the tan they'll contract skin cancer from getting.
Chris Jonsson
Hey Texas, liberals live here too. Get over it. It is not necessary to remove or exterminate them. We are still part of the USA and we have laws against that. Go do something productive tough guys.
Brandt Hardin
The racism of yesteryear has come full circle in our county. The entire world embraced our choice of a black President four years ago and most nations still support him. The fringe elements of bigotry have crept through into the mainstream once again with conservative mouthpieces planting the seeds of hate. The only doubt lies here at home rooting from bigotry. Watch the white hands paint Obama in Blackface at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2012/10/bamboozling-obama.html
Alice Taylor
The GOP of Lubbock- raising their sons with old fashioned 1860 values.
Jordan Stewart via Texas Tribune on Facebook
The idea that all opposition to Obama is motivated by racism is absurd. But, so is the idea that none of it is.
Mac, if you're going to bring false-equivalency into this (instead of expressing your own disagreement with this kind of racism), at least provide some evidence.
Jordan Stewart via Texas Tribune on Facebook
It hasn't been a good year for Lubbock's public perception. Which is sad, because I know some very good people from there and I know that the majority of people there are not like this.
Catherine Uptain Carr via Texas Tribune on Facebook
That judge that said the UN would attack Lubbock? Maybe there's good cause! Actually, he made me laugh--yeah, Lubbock's not going to be a target of anything but derision. Lubbock or leave it.
Audrey Fisher via Texas Tribune on Facebook
GOP have said that it is the parent's responsibility to raise their children and impart moral values. Appears that there is a serious flaw in that model in Lubbock...or at a minimum a documented case .
Carol Morgan
The clincher?
At the beginning of the many seek and destroy marathons, the Lubbock County GOP Chair, Carl Tepper claimed (on a morning radio show) that Lubbock Democrats were damaging their own signs for publicity. Even after the video surfaced, Republicans claiming the video was "staged"--a fake.
Most Lubbock people are good, decent folks. I'm a third generation Lubbockite. I wouldn't think of living anywhere else because it's my home, but dealing with the Extremists of Lubbock County is like attending a reunion of the Clampetts. They are ignorant and worst of all, they are arrogant in their ignorance.
There is not enough Fremschaden to go around.
gypsy314 ne
Democrats and Obama must go for the good of American.
Jim Vance
No, gypsy -- it's doofus neofascist trolls like you and the scurrilous idiots vandalizing political signs in order to intimidate the legitimate voting public who must go.
Matt Taylor
This story has been linked on thejavelina.com.
Michael Hull
Mac Mcclure, you left out the fact that they assaulted the man...after you knock down your strawman, maybe you'll notice the convenience of your omission...
Veronica Lockett via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I left...
Jimmy Alan Hall via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Me, too, Veronica.
Steven Schafersman
Midland County, where I live, is one of the most Republican counties in Texas. Yes, it is depressing, but you get to witness their "antics" (i.e. crimes), so sometimes it is insightful. In 2008, someone drove their pickup truck onto our front lawn and ran over our Obama sign and left ruts in the lawn. I mentioned this to some Democrats and was told it is a common occurrence in Midland. One suggested putting American flags on both sides of the sign, but others said that does not good. This year, we were warned to not put any Obama signs in the lawn, but we put our Obama and Sadler signs in the flower bed only a foot from the front of the house. Amazingly, someone stole both signs in the late afternoon while I was in the back in the garden and my wife at the grocery store. As an educator, I am well aware that we have been raising a generation of criminals in this state, and these individuals will only grow older and become bolder in their crimes. Common wisdom among Democrats in Midland is to put your Obama and other Democratic signs in your windows so they can't be stolen. That's good advice for the next 30 years. But I expect the next act will be to break windows.